United Nations releases stamp on Mahatma Gandhi

Marking the International Day of Non-Violence, the United Nations has released a stamp of Mahathma Gandhi on the occasion of his 140th birth anniversary.

United Nations Postal Administration, the world body's postal agency, released the one-dollar stamp designed by a world famous Miami-based artist Ferdie Pacheco, with the Father of the Nation in red, blue and gold. Also the envelopes marked with the stamp and the United Nations' seal were on sale.

Several UN envoys, present at a function organised by the Indian Mission to celebrate his 140the birth anniversary, reiterated the influence of Mahathma Gandhi's life.

"In many ways, Mahatma Gandhi previsioned the UN. Much of the work that we do in the area of human rights owes its genesis in the struggle against racial discrimination, which he focused on," Hardeep Singh Puri India's ambassador to the UN said.

President of the General Assembly Ali Treki stressed upon Gandhi's commitment to communal harmony between Muslims and non-Muslims. Paying tribute to Gandhi, the US envoy to the UN Susan Rice said "Gandhi had influenced millions of Americans. Gandhi believed that physical force could be turned aside by moral forces."